


Learn to Bloom

by seasparks



Series: Learn to Bloom [1]
Category: Ikenfell (Video Game)
Genre: Angst, Canon-Compliant, F/F, Fluff and Angst, Happy Ending, Ifig and Baudovinia are wives now, Ikenfell spoilers, PTSD, Post-Game, Slice of Life, Trauma, or at least compliant-ish
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-19
Updated: 2020-10-19
Packaged: 2021-03-09 04:41:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,090
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27099034
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/seasparks/pseuds/seasparks
Summary: Unable to stay at Ikenfell any longer after almost bringing it to ruin, former headmistress Baudovinia Aeldra flees campus with her wife, Ifig Everleigh, following just behind. Will Baudovinia keep running from her past, or will Ifig help her stay grounded long enough to build a better life with her in the present?
Relationships: Ifig Everleigh/Baudovinia Aeldra, Maritte Hildegaard/Pertisia Abednego
Series: Learn to Bloom [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1984432
Comments: 9
Kudos: 17





	1. Chapter 1

Ifig stumbled through the snowy woods, chasing after her wife. "Baud, wait! I can't keep up in all this snow!" The woman ahead of her stopped abruptly and waited for her to catch up.

"I'm sorry, Ifig, I just..." Baud began, but trailed off. Silence stretched between them as Ifig, still unfamiliar with navigating the wintry terrain, worked her way through the snow, more carefully now that her traveling companion had stopped.

Finally, Ifig caught up and wrapped her arms around Baud's, for warmth as well as comfort. "Shh, it's okay, I know," she said, leaning into Baud's taller, broader frame. "But you don't have to push yourself like this. Nobody is chasing you, except maybe Radegund to beg you to take her position back."

Baud laughed weakly. "And if she were chasing me, I'd never be able to outrun her."

"Exactly." Ifig looked up, her eyes twinkling.

Another long silence. Their conversations had been like this for months, ever since all of Baud's magically suppressed negative emotions found their way back to her: Baud getting stuck in her head, Ifig drawing her out, and Baud regaining the smallest glimmer of her old self ( _Or the self she tried to be for everyone_ , Ifig reminded herself) only to slip back into whatever thoughts would inevitably cause another spiral. Ifig opened her mouth to start talking about something, anything to keep her lover's mind off of her troubles, but for once, Baud broke the silence before she had a chance.

"Why are you here with me?" she asked in a tiny, scared voice that broke Ifig's heart to hear.

"Because my life is with you, love," responded Ifig instantly. "I swore years ago to stay by your side, and I'm not ready to renegotiate that promise yet."

A bitter chuckle escaped Baud's lips. " _Yet._ "

Ifig squeezed Baud's arm. As another silence began to settle over them, she spoke up. "Talk to me, love. The only way to keep that 'yet' from happening is if you talk to me. Don't keep everything bottled up any more. Please." She hated how close her voice came to breaking at the end; she had to be strong for Baud right now.

"I'm a monster," Baud whispered, barely loud enough for her wife to hear. "I nearly killed that poor boy from the coven. What if...what if I can't..." Her body shook with sobs she couldn't repress any more.

With a wave of her hand, Ifig brought a root out of the ground to serve as a makeshift bench, then walked Baud over to it. Since winter had begun, her magic had become much more powerful at the expense of finesse: as little as a month ago she would have easily been able to create a nice, soft bed of flower petals or leaves or springy vines to comfortably sit on. Now she could conjure up a thousand more of these crude wooden benches without a second thought, but she was lucky the hard wood had a slight curve to it, and even so, she winced as she sat down. The love of her life deserved better, but this was the best she could manage for now.

 _She deserves better, and she_ will _have it._

As soon as they were seated, Baud wrapped her arms around Ifig and buried her head in her shoulder, tears freely flowing. Ifig responded by slowly running her fingers through her lover's hair and murmuring soft reassurances into her ear.

* * *

Ifig woke up sore and shivering. She must have lost track of time while comforting her wife; the forest was pitch-black, and the cold had seeped into her body far more than seemed safe. For a moment she seemed about to panic, but she looked down and saw Baud's head in her lap, a look on her face more peaceful and at ease than Ifig had seen since the world had almost ended—and if she was being honest with herself, since years before that, too.

 _Maybe this was a good idea after all,_ she thought, and allowed herself a small smile. She didn't think Baud would have been able to let go like this with the responsibility of being headmistress of Ikenfell weighing her down. 

Another shiver wracked Ifig's body and jolted her out of her brief reverie. Peacefully sleeping wife or not, they were still exposed to the elements in the middle of the night. Something had to be done, or they'd both freeze to death before Baud's healing—and her own, if she was being honest with herself—could truly begin. After a moment's thought, she waved her hand and sent a pulse of magic into the ground around them.

The earth started to rumble, and a giant tree began to grow out of the ground. It lifted them up a few feet, then grew only around the sides, forming a massive hollow that eventually converged on a ceiling what must have been dozens of feet above them. On the wall across from the bench was a rough hole where the wood parted and rejoined to form an entrance.

Ifig nodded. It would do, for now.

"Sorry, love, but I've got to make sure we don't freeze," she apologized to her sleeping wife as she carefully shifted out from under her head. Baud readjusted slightly but didn't wake up, much to Ifig's relief. She rummaged through her travel pack until she found what she was looking for: two heavy cloaks and a small, translucent red orb.

The orb was a gift from Safina's sister, the pyromancer girl who, along with her friends, had saved Ikenfell from disaster. When she learned that the former headmaster and her wife were planning on leaving, she insisted on giving it to them; apparently it was enchanted to provide warmth, and in the pyromancer's own words, "probably not even set anything on fire!". Baud had refused the gift, saying she didn't deserve it, but the girl insisted, and Ifig gratefully accepted yet another tremendous favor from her.

Holding out her hand, Ifig sent a trickle of magic into the orb. It started to glow and rise in the air almost immediately, filling the room with a soft orange light. Slowly, warmth began to seep out of it. To her surprise, it felt like sitting around a small campfire; the pyromancer girl knew what she was doing after all.

A sound beside Ifig grabbed her attention. She looked over and saw Baud thrashing in her sleep, a pained expression on her face replacing the serenity that had been there just minutes earlier. "Shhh, love, it's okay, I'm here," she whispered.

Before the Incident (as Ifig had taken to referring to it in her mind), Baud had never had any trouble sleeping through the night. Ifig hadn't thought much of it at the time, but she now knew that it was due to her love's use of blood magic to suppress all her bottled-up grief. When the vessel that contained her negative emotions shattered and returned those emotions to her, it did more than trigger a flashback: it returned to Baud all of her unprocessed emotions and trauma.

Ifig was still unsure how to be there for her wife in times like this, but gentle touch and reassuring words seemed to help some. If nothing else, they didn't make things worse. "It's okay, love," she repeated. "We have shelter, we have heat. We have each other." She stroked Baud's hair gently as she spoke, being sure to move her hand slowly and steadily.

Gradually, Baud's nightmares appeared to subside, until she finally returned to the former, more peaceful state that Ifig was more familiar with. Once the episode passed, Ifig folded one of the cloaks into a makeshift pillow and covered both of them with it. "Goodnight, love," she said, only now realizing how exhausted she was.

She wrapped her arms around her wife, thanked all the gods she could think of that they were both still alive, and fell into a deep, dreamless sleep.

\---

"Good morning, Ifig dear."

Ifig opened her eyes just a crack and saw Baud's blurry figure looming above her. "Morning, love," she mumbled groggily. Instead of getting up, she rolled onto her side and latched onto Baud's legs. "Wife," she declared.

"I went foraging while you were asleep and found some nuts and vegetables," Baud said stiffly. "They are in a bag next to your travel pack. There is also a stream nearby that hasn't frozen over yet, though you may need to bring the heating orb with you to thaw it if you stay here more than a few days. I have drawn out a map containing the location of the river and some winter crops; I will leave it—"

"Slow down, love," said Ifig. She released her wife from her clutches and rubbed her eyes. "This is all very sweet of you, but you don't have to push yourself like this. Let yourself take a break, for once. I can handle it." The rest of Baud's words finally sunk in. "And...why are you talking like I am going to be here on my own?"

"I'm leaving."

Alarm bells went off in Ifig's mind. "Leaving? Why?" she asked in a panic.

"I'm dangerous. You will be better off without me."

" _Dangerous?_ " Ifig had to stifle a hysterical laugh. "You're the sweetest, gentlest person I've ever known! How in Wala's name am I in any danger from you?"

"I almost got everyone killed!" Baud snapped. Her words came tumbling out over each other now. "The whole world, even! I killed an innocent mage myself, or close to it! I have spent my whole life trying to make those around me flourish, but instead they wither and die and leave me _alone_."

"Love...you're not alone. You have everyone back at Ikenfell. You have me." Ifig reached for Baud's hand and gave it a squeeze; she may as well have been holding a dead vine.

"For now. Eventually I'll either drive you off by being like _this_ or get you killed," Baud spat bitterly. "Maybe worse. And I do not care to wait around to find out which it is."

"You don't...love, no, you can't mean..."

Baud nodded sadly. "I'm truly sorry, Ifig." She turned around and started walking to the door.

"No!! You can't just leave like this! I won't let you!" Realizing how she sounded, she hastily clarified, "That is, you can leave if you want, but please, if you do, make sure it's for _you_ , not for _me_. Don't make that decision for me."

"You're blinded by your love for a me that never truly existed. Not the real me. You can't be expected to make the reasonable decision here. The only decision."

"Since when does 'reason' entail giving up on what I want? I know what I want, and what I want is right here." Ifig stomped the floor for emphasis. "With you."

"What other way is there?!" shouted Baud, tears streaming down her face.

Ifig shook her head. "This is just the cauldron all over again, love. It was a mistake then and it's a mistake now, blood magic or not. You can't keep doing this to yourself." 

Baud opened and closed her mouth a few times in search of something to say, then hung her head in defeat. "I'm not winning this one, am I?"

"Nope!" Ifig chirped. "Maybe you couldn't protect everyone, but you can't hurt everyone, either. And don't think so little of me to believe I didn't catch glimpses of the true you under your headmistress facade. I want to get to know her better." She stood on her tiptoes and looked up into Baud's eyes, brandishing an impish grin. "That means I want to get to know _you_ better, silly."

Baud couldn't help but smile, tears still in her eyes. "I...I can make no promises, other that that I will try."

Ifig's expression softened. "That's all I'm asking of you, love." She threw her arms around Baud's neck and gave her a kiss. "I've already lost you twice. I don't want to lose you again."

* * *

Without needing to discuss it, it was obvious to both women that Ifig's hollowed-out treehouse would be their new home for the time being. After they recovered from the morning's argument, they set about making it as habitable as possible. Ifig swept all the twigs and leaves and other assorted detritus off of her newly-risen (and remarkably smooth & polished) floor while Baud went to fetch more water to have on hand.

Once those tasks were finished, Ifig started thinking about what they would do for food. "Your foraging was a good start, but food is just going to get more scarce the deeper we get into winter," she mused out loud. "I saw what you did with the vines back at Ikenfell; do you think you could use your magic to grow a garden here? My new magic doesn't let me control the little things very well, but maybe you'll have better luck. I can probably add an enclosure, if that would help."

Baud shook her head wordlessly.

"Do you think you could try, love?" asked Ifig.

"No, I...haven't used my magic since that night," Baud clarified. She started fidgeting with a piece of wood she must have picked up on one of her trips outside. "I don't think I can. I don't even know if I want to." Her voice grew quieter, and her fidgeting intensified to match it. "I'm sorry, Ifig."

Ifig squeezed Baud's arm in what she hoped was a reassuring gesture. "It's okay, love. We'll figure something out." _It's not ideal, but Wala knows you deserve not to have to push yourself for once._

In the end, they decided to start a garden anyway. It wouldn't feed them immediately, but Ifig would keep working on mastering her new magic, and with any luck she would be able to magically aid their crops before too long. Their travel packs were enchanted to be able to hold items in stasis indefinitely as well as for extra storage, and they had enough food with them to last a month or two, at least.

To Ifig, the more pressing matter was Baud's mental health. She knew her wife was hurting, and it pained her that all she could do was wait for her to be ready to open up.

_Wala, let her be ready before it's too late._


	2. Chapter 2

A few nights later, they received two surprise visitors.

It was the middle of the night. Ifig had just sat with Baud through another of her episodes and was about to settle back down to sleep when she heard a voice calling from outside.

"Hello? Is anyone there? My partner and I could really use some shelter, if you're willing to share your space with us for the night."

Ifig knew the voice was familiar, but couldn't quite place it. Still, she didn't want to leave anyone to freeze outside, friends or strangers, so she got back up and took a peek outside. Off in the distance were two figures surrounded by eerie, floating lights. The shorter figure was dressed as she would expect for the season, bundled up in furs, but the taller figure appeared to be dressed for a hot day at the beach. Ifig rubbed her eyes, certain she was mistaken, but as they drew closer, their questionable attire began to make more and more sense.

"Pertisia!" she called out to the girl whose name she knew. Not wanting to be rude, she added, "Hildegaard! What are you two doing here? Please, come in!" She ushered Pertisia and Safina's pyromancer sister into their makeshift house. The glowing lights followed them in, and Ifig realized that they were the same as the heating orb she had been using since arriving here. _I'll have to ask if she can spare any of those for us_.

"Professor Everleigh? Is that you?" asked Pertisia, her eyes wide. "Does that mean...ah, yes, there's Headmistress Aeldra."

Ifig lowered her voice, not wanting to wake her sleeping wife. "Please, just call me Ifig. Or Everleigh, at the very least. I'm no professor, and she's no headmistress; we're just two women who love each other." She noticed that her visitors were holding each other's hands and added, "Same as you two, it seems."

The newcomers blushed. "Yeah, I guess so," the pyromancer replied. "By the way, I know things were a bit rushed back when we met at the school. My name's Maritte." She stuck out her free hand. "It's a pleasure to meet you on less dire terms, Ifig."

Ifig eagerly shook her hand. "Likewise, Maritte! I'm so sorry I forgot! Everything's just been...so much."

"We would love to catch up, prof...I mean, Miss Everleigh, but we're exhausted, and you must be too," said Pertisia. "If you don't mind, we're just going to set up over there, and we can catch up in the morning." She pointed at an open spot of floor equidistant from the door and the other couple's bench-turned-bed. Once Ifig nodded, they walked over and started setting up their own bedding, which seemed to primarily involve Pertisia taking off her outer layers for Maritte to make a sort of nest from, then the smaller girl curling up in the taller girl's arms.

_I hope Baud wakes up before them,_ Ifig thought. _This is just too precious._

* * *

Ifig woke to the sound of quiet conversation. "Where...wife..." she asked blearily.

"Wife here!" came Baud's surprisingly chipper reply. 

"Why not wife _here_?" asked Ifig faux-petulantly. Memories of the surprise visitors the previous evening came back to her, but mornings were mornings, her tired brain reasoned, and there were _routines_ to follow.

"Because coffee _here_ ," replied Baud with a laugh— _a laugh!_ —clear as running water.

The promise of coffee and Baud's good mood together had Ifig over with the others in a heartbeat. "Okay, okay, you got me. Is the coffee still warm?"

"Is the coffee still _warm_?" Maritte echoed with mock indignation. "I'll have you know you're dealing with the most powerful pyromancer in, uh," she did some mental calculations, "at _least_ a ten-mile radius! The coffee, Miss Everleigh, isn't warm; it's _piping hot_." Upon noticing her girlfriend rolling her eyes at her, she added, "Though not quite as hot as a certain scion of the illustrious Abednego family."

"Mar they are my _teachers_ ," Pertisia hissed at Maritte, her face a dazzling shade of pink.

"What I mean is that we've been working on the fireglass since I gave you that prototype, and I've figured out how to make coasters! Here, try some!" Maritte slid a mug of coffee on a flat glass disc over to Ifig, who picked it up and took a sip.

Ifig winced. "It's hot alright, but I think it got burnt from sitting on that for too long. Fortunately for you, after the last few days it's also the most delicious thing I have ever tasted."

Mug in hand, Ifig snuggled into Baud's side. Baud automatically wrapped an arm around her and pulled her in closer. Ifig looked up at her wife and whispered, "You're in a good mood this morning, love."

Baud planted a kiss on her wife's forehead. "I think I needed this. Having company over, I mean. I was just telling these two about the time you tried to get watermelon to grow in the garden and accidentally ended up creating a loyal cult of plant-people."

"Oh yeah? Well, we'll see how you like it when I tell them about the...the, um..." Ifig trailed off.

"I'm sorry, Ifig," said Baud, giving her a squeeze. "I think I'm beginning to realize how much I had been neglecting our relationship." Before Ifig could reply, Baud added, "And don't tell me it's okay. I know it's not."

Ifig sighed. "You're right, this time. But we'll make it okay. We have a whole lifetime of memories to make ahead of us." She stretched up to give Baud a quick peck on the lips.

Their hushed conversation concluded, the former professors turned their attention back on their guests. "Now that Ifig is up, do you two mind telling us what you're doing here?"

Maritte grinned sheepishly. "No particular reason, really. We're planning to leave the continent soon, so we wanted to take one last trip here while we still have the chance. We visited Ikenfell yesterday, and I guess we kind of got lost."

"The most important thing I have learned about pyromancy so far is that you should _never_ trust a pyromancer with directions," Pertisia deadpanned.

"Can't argue with that," Maritte admitted.

"I don't know about that; if chance visits like this are the result of trusting a pyromancer with directions, I don't think I can argue against it," said Ifig. Baud nodded in agreement. "I can only speak for myself here, but as far as I'm concerned you two can stay as long as you want."

"My thoughts exactly," added Baud. "We can never repay the six of you for all you did for us. It is truly the least we can do."

Both of the other girls blushed at the praise. "That's really nice of you," said Maritte, "but really, we were just doing the right thing. We should be leaving soon anyway. Although, since you mention repayment..." She exchanged a glance with Pertisia, who nodded. "How would you two like some more fireglass? I'll even throw in a coffee burner. Even if you don't keep stocked on coffee, I'm sure it can burn all kinds of drinks!"

The offer took Ifig and Baud by surprise. "We'd love to," Ifig said before Baud could turn the pyromancer down again, "but surely you don't have time if you're planning on leaving today?"

Instead of responding, Maritte and Pertisia shifted so they were facing each other and joined hands. A faint glow started to spread from their hands through their bodies until they were both glowing a soft lavender color. From each girl came a stream of magic that met in the center of the circle formed by their arms, growing in size from a pinprick to a pea to a coin until finally it was about the size of a large fist. As slowly as it began, the glowing faded away, until they were left holding hands around a brand-new piece of fireglass.

"Tada!" Maritte announced with a flourish. "Once we realized we could just make them together instead of having me enchant a piece of Perty's conjured glass, we really picked up speed. The few we had out last night aren't even all the ones we brought with us! Plus," she added smugly, "they _still_ haven't burned anything down."

Ifig and Baud glanced at each other nervously.

Pertisia sent an admonishing glare at Maritte, who responded with a smug grin. "Don't worry, they're enchanted to automatically shut off if things get too hot around them, even the prototype we gave you. And yes, we have tested it. I'm not about to let Maritte go around giving out arson spheres in our name."

Maritte's eyes lit up. " _Arson spheres..._ " she repeated.

Pertisia facepalmed, sending her former teachers into a fit of laughter that she and Maritte quickly joined in on.

In the end, Maritte and Pertisia made five new fireglass orbs (Pertisia refused to acknowledge the name "arson spheres" after the first time), two new coasters, and a small glass sculpture of a mouse "in case you decide you want a pet," according to Maritte.

While Maritte was packing up her coffee supplies, Pertisia motioned to Ifig to join her outside. "Sorry, I just wanted to talk to you one-on-one before we leave," she said.

"Of course! What's on your mind?"

"Aeldra—I'm sorry, I just can't get used to calling her 'Baud'—also told us about what she's been going through, and how well you've been taking care of her," said Pertisia. "I don't have any useful advice to give, but as someone who struggles with some similar things...thank you. It's hard, and I know it mostly just takes time and therapy, but knowing Maritte is there really helps me. It sounds like having you around is helping her, too."

"I do my best." Ifig felt self-conscious, so to shift the topic away from her own contributions, she added, "I don't suppose you know of any traveling therapists you could send by?"

"No, but if we run into any I'll be sure to mention you," said Pertisia with a laugh. "Teleportation magic seems to exist now, so it's not impossible, right?" 

"Look at Miss Positivity here!" Ifig teased.

Pertisia's face instantly flushed pink. "...she's really rubbing off on me, isn't she."

"Yep! I think it suits you."

"Yeah." Pertisia couldn't help but smile. "Me, too."

* * *

The next morning, Ifig woke up still in Baud's arms, to her surprise and delight. "Wife!!" she cheered weakly and nuzzled into aforementioned wife's shoulder.

"Wife," Baud agreed. She kept absentmindedly playing with Ifig's hair. "Let me know when you're awake enough to have a conversation; there's something I want to talk to you about. Something good this time." A shadow passed over her face. "...probably," she added.

"Wife..." Ifig sighed contentedly. She let her mind wander as she enjoyed the quiet intimacy of the morning. When she spoke again, it was in a lightly teasing tone. "Having gotten to know the real you a little better, I'm happy to report that the real you is even sweeter and more lovable than the infallible headmistress act you thought you had me fooled with."

"I'm so glad," Baud replied warmly. "You deserve all the sweetness in the world, my light."

Ifig kissed her softly on the neck. "'My light'? That's a new one, love," she teased.

Baud shivered. "I-I thought I'd try it out."

"My goodness, Ikenfell's imposing headmistress, blushing and stammering? I could get used to this." Ifig punctuated the thought with another kiss. More warmly, she added, "I love it. I love _you_."

Baud squeezed her wife in a hug, her fingers still tangled in Ifig's hair. "I love you, too."

"So, what was it that you wanted to talk about?"

Reluctantly, Baud sat up and took a deep breath to try and calm her nerves. She was already anxious about what she was going to suggest, and her wife's teasing affection, while welcome, hadn't helped. "I think I want to try using magic again. With you."

This got Ifig to sit up too. "I have to check: are you sure, love? You don't have to do this if you're not ready."

"No. But that is not going to change, and I want to do everything I can for this new life here with you. It feels like I have a third chance, to do things over. To do things _right_."

Ifig smiled. "Good answer, love. When were you thinking of starting?"

"Does now work?"

"Sure, why not!"

The couple sat up in bed and joined hands like they had seen Maritte and Pertisia do. "You take the lead, love," said Ifig, and before she knew it magic was flowing through her and into Baud, a deep green current that pulsed with energy and growth and all the things they both loved about the world.

The first change Baud made was to grow and soften their bed, much to both of their relief. The root shrank, and at the same time a hedge of the softest leaves they had ever felt grew over it, leaving them a bed that rivaled the fine mattresses in the professors' quarters at Ikenfell for comfort. From the bed, magic raced all along the floor, carpeting it in a bed of flower petals that Ifig knew would never bruise or die no matter how many shoes trod upon them.

Torrents of magic poured outside the tree and created a short stairway up to the entrance, which was now a pair of huge double doors engraved with the likenesses of the two women whose magic brought it into existence. The magic whirled around in circles until there was a clear pathway leading up to the stairs and along the side to a small courtyard, newly populated with wood tables and chairs for people to lounge about and carry on conversations about whatever struck their fancy.

Back inside, the barren interior was remodeled into a massive inn or boarding house, complete with three stories full of bedrooms, common areas, and as much in the way of kitchens as could be constructed with nature magic. Save for their bench-turned-bed and the area around it, the ground floor was one giant gathering area, scattered with seating areas and plenty of room for people to move between them. A spiral staircase grew around the circumference of the room, providing elegant passage to the upper floors.

Finally, it was time for the finishing touches. In a concentrated push, the tree itself burst into bloom with a rainbow of flowers. The area around it carried no trace of winter's touch any more: everything that could bloom, did; everything that could be green, was. And on the inside, walls grew up around Ifig and Baud, turning the space with their bed into a cozy first-floor bedroom with walls thick enough to block out any noise that nighttime visitors might cause. _And the other way around_ , Ifig noted with glee.

"By all the gods..." whispered Baud, awestruck.

"Baud, love, that was _amazing_ ," exclaimed Ifig as she pulled her wife into a tight hug.

Baud blushed. "Having visitors was so lovely that I thought it might be nice to have...more," she explained shyly. "This way I can still protect everyone, if only from the elements."

Ifig felt tears begin to well up in her eyes. "Baud, love, you're a genius. Though, you know that when I said what I want is right here, I was only speaking metaphorically, right?"

"Oh? Shall we abandon this lovely inn and run away again, then, to find a place more to your liking?" Baud teased.

Ifig leaned her head against her wife and smiled. "No, I think I may have been onto something after all. Even if I didn't mean it at the time." She let the silence hang in the air, as if the cold could crystallize this one perfect moment in time. "I love you, Baudovinia."

"I love you too, Ifig, my heart."

**Author's Note:**

> *holds up picture of Ifig* we just think she's neat


End file.
